Brainy Book Review #2: Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Whenever I recommend the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead to any of my friends they would be like: “enough with the vampires!” or “vampires suck!”, but I believe Vampire Academy is different; most of the characters are vampires but the story doesn’t revolve about the fact that they are vampires. This series is about friendship, love, sacrifice, finding ones identity, growing up and becoming more mature. It tells a story I, and other teenagers, can relate to. The series consists of 6 books: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice. I will be reviewing the series as a whole, but I’ll include a brief review of each book.

The mythology in the series is sort of complicated. There are three types of vampires. The Moroi are living mortal vampires who feed on blood, but they drink small amounts that won’t kill the feeder (humans volunteer to get high from the endorphins of the bite) and can work elemental magic. Moroi are the elite of the vampire‘s world. Dhampirs are the children of Moroi vampires and a humans (or Dhampirs), they are able to go out in the day, can’t work magic and don’t feed on blood – but they are stronger and faster than both normal humans and Moroi vampires. They protect the Moroi from the Strigoi. The Strigoi are undead vampires who are either Moroi who killed and became undead by choice – or humans, Dhampirs or Moroi who have been turned against their will. Either way the Strigoi are the strong murderously blood-thirsty immortal vampires.

Vampire Academy tells the story of Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway, a 17-year-old dhampir who attends St. Vladimir’s Academy, a boarding school where young Moroi learn magic and young Dhampirs learn fighting skills and their responsibilities to guard Moroi; “they come first” was their motto. St. Vladimir’s might sound similar to Hogwarts but they’re extremely different. At Hogwarts Harry Potter and his friends learn about magic, eat giant feasts prepared by house-elves and generally have a weird innocence that manages to exceed them being teenagers. On the other hand, at St Vladimir’s Academy learning about magic comes a poor second to boyfriends, girlfriends, gossip, and parties.

Vasilissa Dragomir is a royal Moroi, and she’s also the last Dragomir. Lissa and Rose are best friends and they are also bonded; Rose
can sense Lissa’s feelings no matter how far away she was, and can occasionally slip into her mind. The bond was formed when Lissa unknowingly brought Rose back from the dead after she died in the car crash that killed Lissa’s family. For Lissa’s own safety, both of them have been on the run for two years. Now, they are being dragged back to St Vladimir’s-where Lissa is most in danger.

Unlike female characters from other paranormal YA fiction, like Bella from twilight or Elena from the vampire diaries, Rose is strong-minded, independent, and brave. She doesn’t need a man to protect her; she’s actually training to protect Moroi, both men and women. This is something I really admired and it’s what attracted me to the series in the first place. It shows that not all women are weak and needy, thus I think Rose is a great feminist role model.

Another thing I loved about this series is that you can NEVER hate one of it’s characters; they’re so well rounded and dimensional. I didn’t even hate the villians! And the guys… Oh my god, the guys… thet are awesome and perfect (although flawed!) and you just can’t pick one!

A brief review of each book:

1) Vampire Academy: It started off slowly, but I believe that’s because it’s the first book of the series and Richelle had to introduce the characters and the setting. It’s not as good as the other book of the series, but I can’t deny its awesomeness!

2) Frostbite: The first book to make me cry…Ever. It’s action packed and intense.

3) Shadow Kiss: Amazing! It ended with a bang that left me in denial.

4) Blood Promise: For me, Blood Promise was a turning point for the series; it felt more mature and Rose changed in a way. It’s very heartbreaking, seriously!

5) Spirit Bound: My favourite book out of this series. It’s filled with epic twists and ends with a cliff-hanger like no other.

6) Last Sacrifice: A fine end for a fine series, Richelle wraps the series up beautifully.

All in all the Vampire Academy series is outstanding. I highly recommend it; Richelle Mead is such a talented writer, Vampire Academy is beautifully written. It made laugh, cry and this weird mixture of both. It’s suspenseful and passionate, A must read!